Nearly Blind

I wear glasses. All the time. When I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is put my glasses on. If I loose my glasses I freak out because I can't see well enough to find them! I rely on my glasses to survive.

I view my glasses as a special handicap if you will. I'm glad to answer any and all questions people have about them, and I like talking about them. Odd I know, but I AM odd! In this blog, I'll try to answer all the questions you may have about my glasses, but it will be a challenge considering I can't see you or talk to you. This is a blog after all. If you have a specific question that isn't answered in this blog, comment it below and I'll answer.

History is a good place to start. I got my glasses at the young age of five. My vision problems are hereditary, which is why I needed them so early on. I wore them until I was twelve, however I didn't always like them. I got lucky in school, because back then kids with glasses were made fun of, unlike today where kids think it's cool to wear glasses. Nobody bothered me about them. In second grade, I had to wear an eye patch because of a condition called astigmatism, which means my left eye was much stronger than my right, and it was causing my right eye to go inward instead of straight ahead. Wearing an eye patch over my left eye forced my right one to become stronger, since it had to do all the seeing. Although my left eye is still significantly stronger, I no longer need to wear the eye patch (which is good because those things hurt!).

When I was twelve, I started wearing contacts after I fell off a skateboard and broke my glasses (again). I'd been asking to wear contacts for a while, and when I showed up with broken glasses to my eye doctor again, he recommended to my parents that I get some. I wore them for a little more than a year before they became too expensive for my parents to afford. But even after I ran out of contacts, I refused to wear my glasses. I went frame-less until I was fifteen, at which time my vision bothered me too much for me to go without my glasses anymore. I've worn them ever since.

Now for frequently asked questions:

1. Can you see things that are close up or far off?

You could also ask me if I'm near sighted or far sighted. I'm near sighted, which means I can see things close up much better than things far off.

2. Why is your right lens bigger than your left one?

This is because of the astigmatism I mentioned earlier. My right lens is noticeably bigger than the left because my prescription on that side is stronger.

3. Do you like your glasses?

Sometimes. If I had the option I'd probably choose contacts over my glasses, but for now I've accepted my glasses.

4. Do you really need your glasses?

Unless you'd like me to run into walls and not be able to read then yes, yes I really need them.

5. Can I try on your glasses?

Of course!

The Hero in Green

This is but one of the legends of which people speak...

One of my heroes is a video game character. I can say this without hesitation. He's recklessly brave, puts his own life on the line countless times, and puts everyone else before himself. His name is Link, the hero of the Legend of Zelda franchise.

Long ago, there existed a kingdom where a golden power lay hidden. It was a prosperous land blessed with green forests, tall mountains, and peace. But one day a man of great evil found the golden power and took it for himself. With its strength at his command, he spread darkness across the kingdom. But then, when all hope had died, and the hour of doom seemed at hand, a young boy clothed in green appeared as if from nowhere.

If you've never played this game, you're missing out on a beautifully crafted story. You play as Link, a boy destined to save the land of Hyrule from the evil Ganon, who's set on having ultimate power. The story changes a little bit depending on the game. Sometimes, Link knows from the start that he's the hero of legend. Sometimes he figures it out along his journey. But in every situation, he's ready and eager to help.

Wielding the blade of evil's bane, he sealed the dark one away and gave the land light. The boy, who traveled through time to save the land, was known as the Hero of Time. The boy's tale was passed down through generations until it became legend...

In the two games I've played, Link has a companion that knows of his destiny and wants to help. In "The Wind Waker", it's a boat...yes, a talking boat that is really the king of Hyrule in disguise. There is an insane amount of ocean you have to sail in that game, so the talking boat is more than practical. In "Twilight Princess", a mysterious creature named Midna tags along with Link, helping him understand the unusual turn of events that has put the people he loves in danger.

But then, a day came when a fell wind began to blow across the kingdom. The great evil that all though had been forever sealed away by the hero once again crept forth from the depths of the earth to resume its dark designs. The people believed that the Hero of Time would again come to save them...but the hero did not appear. Faced by an onslaught of evil, the people could do nothing but appeal to the gods. In their last hour, as doom drew nigh, they left their future in the hands of fate. What became of that kingdom? None remain who know.

The "bad guy" in these games, as I mentioned before, wants absolute power over Hyrule, and usually that means Link is targeted with his worst attacks. The typical flow of the game is that some evil befalls your home, you go after it, realize it's the work of Ganon, learn princess Zelda of Hyrule is in danger, and you must go save her. Why she hasn't learned to save herself yet I fail to understand. Once you save her and defeat Ganon, you win the game, and evil disappears from the land. That is, until Ganon reappears and a hero is needed once again.


This is but one of the legends of which people speak...

Besides the awesome story behind the game, the places in the game are beautiful. The night sky in Wind Waker, the Hyrule castle in Twilight Princess, Lake Hylia, they're all so beautiful. Sometimes you have to stop playing and just take in your surroundings. One of my favorite places is the Sacred Grove, a forest where you find the Master Sword, the sword that all the heroes used before you. You need this sword for the final Ganon battle, where you destroy evil for good. (I always hesitate to use absolutes when talking about this game. Is Ganon really gone for good or just until he reappears?)

Now that I have convinced you of my nerdiness, I leave you with this awesome trailer and a timeline of the games (click on the picture to view larger). Have a good day.




Timeline by Tristan.

Welcoming a New Member: Ben, Seth, and Jonathan

This week is a music blog sort of week, don't you agree? I think I need to take a week off from all this intense stuff anyway. Let's talk about Skillet, shall we? OK!

I've had a Tumblr blog for a couple of months now, mostly because I enjoy blogging so much that I needed a daily blog as well as a weekly blog. There are a lot of obsessive weirdos on Tumblr, so I was fitting right in with my Legend of Zelda/Skillet blog. I had a ridiculously small amount of followers for the first month, but I didn't care. I was having fun blogging! I didn't care who cared.

I follow a lot of Skillet blogs, and one day, as I was checking out my feed, I noticed I had a lot of Skillet spam. Hundreds of pictures of John, Jen, Korey, and even Seth decorated my feed. I was enjoying it, until I got close to the end of my feed and I hadn't seen a single picture of Ben. As is my way, I got a little upset and completely changed my blog to a blog about Ben Kasica. You can see it here.

History lesson break: Skillet is composed of John Cooper, (hey, Skillet just came on the radio!) who plays bass and sings, Korey Cooper, who sings back-up and plays keys and guitar, and Jen Ledger, who sings back-up and plays drums. Up until February, they had a forth member, Ben Kasica, who played lead guitar. But Ben left the band to pursue other things, and spend more time devoted to his other ministries. Ben was my favorite member of the band, so I was pretty heart broken when he announced his departure. I've written before of how that was the final nail in the coffin for my Skillet obsession, long story, you can read about it here.

Along with may other "Panheads" (Skillet fans), I eagerly awaited the reveal of the new guitar player. A lead guitarist is essential to Skillet's live shows, so we all new it had to happen soon. Our anticipation was quickly rewarded, as rumors of a new trial guitarist sprang up. His name was Jonathan Salas.

I Googled his name the minute I heard, and was... disappointed to say the least. I knew that it would be hard if not impossible for Skillet to find someone to replace the likes of Ben, but I knew they could do better than this. He wasn't a bad guitarist, in fact he was quite talented, I'm not saying he wasn't. But he wasn't Skillet. He didn't fit in, he wasn't what Skillet needed, it just didn't work for me. Apparently it wasn't working for Skillet either, as no more than a month after Jonathan started touring with them, he left.

More drama ensued among the Panhead community. We had to say goodbye to Ben, welcome Jonathan, and say goodbye to Jonathan in such close proximity, and now a new guitarist was on the way. I have to admit that during these events, I was in an all time Skillet obsession low, so I'm not entirely sure how things went, but as April came to a close, Seth Morrison entered the Skillet.



I liked him much better than Jonathan. I liked him before he even joined Skillet. He entered a contest Thousand Foot Krutch was holding for a new guitarist, and I voted for him. I was pretty happy that he was going to try out my favorite band, twice...

You can see Seth in action with Skillet here.

The main point of this post is to let my fine Tumblr followers and blogger followers alike that I'm not holding anything against Seth for replacing my favorite guitarist. I might sound a little bitter at times, but I really enjoy the changes, and I'm eager to see if Seth stays or not, and what he's going to bring to the next record. I'm also excited about what Ben has been doing with his recording company Skies Fall Studios, and his clothing line with Life. Love. Music. I have a blog devoted to him yes, but I'm no longer sad about his departure. I will miss his involvement with Skillet very much, but all of us have to go through changes, and follow the path the Lord is leading us down. I wish Ben, Seth, and Jonathan the best in their new careers!

Getting Back Up = The Hardest Part

Failure. It's one of the things I'm most afraid of. Something about my personality makes failure the worst possible scenario. I'm most satisfied when things work out. I know I'm not alone in this. I've met plenty of other people who are crushed when they fail. I think it's part of human nature. We like to have control over things. We like when we get things right. Some people more than others, but I'm sure nobody likes being wrong.

However, failure is unavoidable. All of us at some point are going to fail. I've done so myself in the past week or so. I'll admit that something as small as what I did can make me pretty depressed. I let things people said get under my skin and fester. I think of all the ways I could have done things different or better. It's another symptom of having an overactive mind, over thinking situations that don't matter that much.

A friend told me something while I was in the middle of it all that made me think. She told me we all fail, but it's what we do with it that matters. Are we going to let it crush us, or are we going to learn from it and move on? Are we going to be the ones that huddle in the corner and cry, or are we going to be the ones that stand up, superior over our imperfect flesh, and keep fighting the battle that God has placed us in?

I've been through a lot in my short life, but I can't think of one thing that I didn't gain experience from that I later used to help someone else. Not one time was the pressure and pain so much that I couldn't get back up again. Now, it was hard, there's no doubt about that. But failure is just another trial that makes you stronger. You look at the pieces of your broken life, decide how you could do things better next time or avoid making the same mistake, and praise the Lord for bringing you through yet again!

Sometimes, it's best to give God control of the situation. Especially when you're at the lowest points, it's important to surrender everything to him. He knows what he wants you to learn from this, whether it's to make you stronger or to show you that you've been doing some things wrong.

My advice to you, beloved, you who's a failure just like me, is pray. Spend time with your savior. Talk to him about what's going on, no matter how small or how stupid it may sound in your mind. Read your bible, and seek the answers he wants you to find. It's at these times that you're broken and helpless that God can teach you the most, because those are the times you come running to the arms of your Creator.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

As you know, I'm always here to talk if you need me. You can leave a comment on the "Get Help" page for other people to see and pray for you, or if you need a little more than that, you can always email me. I'm more than happy to talk and pray with you. If you don't want to do that, I encourage you to find someone who can help you. Go talk to your youth leader or someone older and more experienced who will give you Godly criticism and tell you the best thing to do. Don't do it alone, that's one of the worst things to do. I speak from experience in that. Pray, pray, pray, and I know you will come out of this better than you were before.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?"
- Romans 8:35

It's Time to Redefine your Deophobic Mind

Something that bothers me a lot is when non-Christians think Christians have it all together. I don't know how often this is the case, but I have met and heard of people who don't think they're good enough to be accepted by God. They think that they're too far gone to turn back now. They think that Christians will judge them because they're messed up.

This doesn't make sense to me for a number of reasons. First of all, I consider myself to be a Christian. I go into my relationship in greater detail here. I can honestly tell you that I am just as messed up as you. I don't care what you've done or where you're at right now, I have been there or have been on the path myself. I struggle with things on a daily basis that would make me a hideous ugly person if I actually went through with those things. I'm not any better than you are.

The only difference between me and the person who's not saved is grace. All the wrong things I've done and have yet to do are covered by the grace of Jesus, like they never happened.

Look at it this way: There's me, and there's my friend, and we've just come back from a crazy ride on our ATVs in the rain and mud. We're filthy, covered from head to toe in mud. We know we're going to get in big trouble for this, because our clothes are white, and my friend's mom is the ultimate neat freak. That mud and dirt represent sin, or all the gross bad things we've done in our lives. In order to go into the nice warm house where there's hot chocolate and Skillet CDs to be blasted, we need to somehow remove ourselves from our dirty state. That house represents heaven. (Yes of course we need Skillet in heaven!) The grace that Jesus showed to us when he died on the cross is like the water hose we go to to wash off the dirt from our bodies. It removes that which we couldn't remove by our own power. You see, there's only one way in, and that's through the water, through Jesus Christ.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

- John 14:6

You may be asking then, "If God just takes away all our sins, why is there even a need for good and bad? Why do we have a conscience that makes us feel horrible when we've done something wrong?" It's a good question, one I've wondered myself. Going back to the dirt illustration, not having a knowledge of good and bad would be like me and my friend not knowing what dirt was, and therefore we would have no fear of access into the house being denied. But God has given us the ability to understand what is good or what is bad, so we know not to do it. That's why murder is illegal. That's why rape is frowned upon. That's why we have laws that must be obeyed.

The law made us realize just how messed up we were. There have been numerous cases in my life where I've tried to do one thing again and again and failed. Sometimes, people standing on the outside looking in on the Christians are doing the same thing. They've tried and tried, but still they can't get things right. They still screw everything up and are worse off than before. I know how they feel, I've been there.

"The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace incresed all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

- Romans 5:20-21

What this verse is saying is that the law was given to us so we could look at our lives and realize the need for help. If we never knew anything was wrong, how would we know we needed to be saved? We wouldn't know that the dirt in our lives was pushing us farther and farther away from God. But the best part is, we do know. We have been shown that we need a savior, and he's gone ahead and saved us before hand. Grace increased all the more, so we might be saved from eternal punishment.

It wasn't by anything I did. I knew I was messed up, and I still mess up sometimes. But Jesus covered me with his grace by taking the penalty of death for me on the cross, so that no matter how many times I fail, I can still come to him and know that I'm forgiven.

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

- Acts 4:12

"For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

- John 6:40

"And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace."

- Romans 11:6